Citation

Li F, Lu X, Yip PSF. J. Int. Migr. Integr. 2021; 22(2): 691-703.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Prairie Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Integration, Publisher Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s12134-020-00770-5

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

There were over 200 million internal migrants in China and their wellbeing is of great concern to the development of China. However, injury-related mortalities of the migrants, especially accidental drownings, were not uncommon, yet rarely studied. This study investigates accidental drownings in Pudong, Shanghai (2004-2017). Accidental drownings of the migrants in the police files were extracted (n = 363). Those of the local permanent residents were used as the comparison group (n = 160). Poisson regressions were used to estimate the rate ratios and the annual percentage change ("APC"). Child migrants aged 0-14 years were much more vulnerable to accidental drownings than their local counterparts (p < 0.001). The migrants had a declining trend of drowning (APC, − 11.2; 95% CI, − 13.0 to − 8.3). However, the local people aged 65 and above had an increasing trend (APC, 8.2; 95% CI, 1.6 to 15.9). In Shanghai, the drowning rates of child migrants were extremely high, whereas the adult migrants' were at the middle-lower level around the world. Supervision from social workers or community services is recommended to reduce the risks of accidental drowning in child migrants. Providing safe swimming places and safety lessons could also be important. Furthermore, installation of safety barriers beside the rivers, creeks, and streams should be prioritized to protect the old people from drowning.

Language: en